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Friday, 18 January 2013

On the authority of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Allah will say to the inhabitant of Paradise: ‘O inhabitants of Paradise!’ They will say: ‘O our Lord, we present ourselves and are at Your pleasure, and goodness rests in Your hands.’ Then He will say: ‘Are you contented?’ And they will say: ‘And how should we not be contented, O Lord, when You have given to us that which You have given to no one else of Your creation?’ Then He will say: ‘Would you not like Me to give you something better than that?’ And they will say: ‘O Lord and what thing is better than that?’ And He will say: ‘I shall cause My favour to descend upon you and thereafter shall never be displeased with you.’”

On the authority of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Paradise and Hell-fire disputed together, and Hell-fire said: ‘In me are the mighty and the haughty.’ Paradise said: ‘In me are the weak and the poor.’ So Allah judged between them, [saying]: ‘You are Paradise, My mercy; through you I show mercy to those I wish. And you are Hell-fire, My punishment; through you I punish those I wish, and it is incumbent upon Me that each of you shall have its fill.’”

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“When Allah created Paradise and Hell-fire, He sent Gabriel to Paradise, saying: ‘Look at it and at what I have prepared therein for its inhabitants.’” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “So he came to it and looked at it and at what Allah had prepared therein for its inhabitants.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “So he returned to Him and said: ‘By your glory, no one hears of it without entering it.’ So He ordered that it be encompassed by forms of hardship, and He said: ‘Return to it and look at what I have prepared therein for its inhabitants.’” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “So he returned to it and found that it was encompassed by forms of hardship (1). Then he returned to Him and said: ‘By Your glory, I fear that no one will enter it.’ He said: ‘Go to Hell-fire and look at it and what I have prepared therein for its inhabitants;’ and he found that it was in layers, one above the other. Then he returned to Him and said: ‘By Your glory, no one who hears of it will enter it.’ So He ordered that it be encompassed by lusts. Then He said: ‘Return to it.’ And he returned to it and said: ‘By Your glory, I am frightened that no one will escape from entering it.’

(1) The Arabic word used here is “makarih”, the literal meaning of which is “things that are disliked.” In this context it refers to forms of religious discipline that man usually finds onerous.

[At-Tirmidhi, who said that it was a good and sound Hadith (also by Abu Dawud and an-Nasa'i).]

On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said:

“The believers will gather together on the Day of Resurrection and will say: ‘Should we not ask [someone] to intercede for us with our Lord?’ So they will come to Adam and will say: ‘You are the Father of mankind; Allah created you with His Hand, He made His angels bow down to you, and He taught you the names of everything, so intercede for us with your Lord so that He may give us relief from this place where we are.’ And he will say: ‘I am not in a position [to do that]‘ – and he will mention his wrongdoing and will feel ashamed and will say: ‘Go to Noah, for he is the first messenger that Allah sent to the inhabitants of the earth.’ So they will come to him and he will say: ‘I am not in a position [to do that]‘ – and he will mention his having requested something of his Lord about which he had no [proper] knowledge (Qur’an Chapter 11 Verses 45-46), and he will feel ashamed and will say: ‘Go to the Friend of the Merciful (Abraham).’ So they will come to him and he will say: ‘I am not in a position [to do that]. Go to Moses, a servant to whom Allah talked and to whom He gave the Torah.’ So they will come to him and he will say: ‘I am not in a position [to do that]‘ – and he will mention the talking of a life other than for a life (Qur’an Chapter 28 Verses 15-16), and he will feel ashamed in the sight of his Lord and will say: ‘Go to Jesus, Allah’s servant and messenger, Allah’s word and spirit.’ So they will come to him and he will say: ‘I am not in a position [to do that]. Go to Muhammad (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), a servant to whom Allah has forgiven all his wrongdoing, past and future.’ So they will come to me and I shall set forth to ask permission to come to my Lord, and permission will be given, and when I shall see my Lord I shall prostrate myself. He will leave me thus for such time as it pleases Him, and then it will be said [to me]: ‘Raise your head. Ask and it will be granted. Speak and it will be heard. Intercede and your intercession will be accepted.’ So I shall raise my head and praise Him with a form of praise that He will teach me. Then I shall intercede and He will set me a limit [as to the number of people], so I shall admit them into Paradise. Then I shall return to Him, and when I shall see my Lord [I shall bow down] as before. Then I shall intercede and He will set me a limit [as to the number of people]. So I shall admit them into Paradise. Then I shall return for a third time, then a fourth, and I shall say: ‘There remains in Hell-fire only those whom the Qur’an has confined and who must be there for eternity.’ There shall come out of Hell-fire he who has said: ‘There is no god but Allah’ and who has in his heart goodness weighing a barley-corn; then there shall come out of Hell-fire he who has said: ‘There is no god but Allah’ and who has in his heart goodness weighing a grain of wheat; then there shall come out of Hell-fire he who has said: ‘There is no god but Allah’ and who has in his heart goodness weighing an atom.

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Our Lord (glorified and exalted be He) descends each night to the earth’s sky when there remains the final third of the night, and He says: ‘Who is saying a prayer to Me that I may answer it? Who is asking something of Me that I may give it him? Who is asking forgiveness of Me that I may forgive him?’”

On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say:

“Allah the Almighty said:

‘O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.’”

[At-Tirmidhi (also by Ahmad ibn Hanbal). Its chain of authorities is sound.]

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), from among the things he reports from his Lord (mighty and sublime be He), is that he said:

“A servant [of Allah's] committed a sin and said: ‘O Allah, forgive me my sin.’ And He (glorified and exalted be He) said: ‘My servant has committed a sin and has known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for them.’ Then he sinned again and said: ‘O Lord, forgive me my sin.’ And He (glorified and exalted be He) said: ‘My servant has committed a sin and has known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for them.’ Then he sinned again and said: ‘O Lord, forgive me my sin.’ And He (glorified and exalted be He) said: ‘My servant has committed a sin and has known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for sins. Do what you wish, for I have forgiven you.’”

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“A man sinned greatly against himself, and when death came to him he charged his sons, saying: ‘When I have died, burn me, then crush me and scatter [my ashes] into the sea, for, by Allah, if my Lord takes possession of me, He will punish me in a manner in which He has punished no one [else].’ So they did that to him. Then He said to the earth: ‘Produce what you have taken – and there he was!’ And He said to him: ‘What induced you to do what you did?’ He said: ‘Being afraid of You, O my Lord (or he said: ‘Being frightened of You’),’ and because of that He forgave him.”

On the authority of Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) related:

“A man said: ‘By Allah, Allah will not forgive So-and-so.’ At this Allah the Almighty said: ‘Who is he who swears by Me that I will not forgive So-and-so? Verily I have forgiven So-and-so and have nullified your [own good] deeds (1) (or as he said [it]).’”

(1) A similar Hadith, which is given by Abu Dawud, indicates that the person referred to was a godly man whose previous good deeds were brought to naught through presuming to declare that Allah would not forgive someone’s bad deeds. [Muslim]

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said:

‘If My servant likes to meet Me, I like to meet him; and if he dislikes to meet Me, I dislike to meet him.’”

Prophetic explanation of this Sacred Hadith: ‘He who likes to meet Allah, Allah likes to meet him; and he who dislikes to meet Allah, Allah dislikes to meet him:’

Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “O Prophet of Allah, is it because of the dislike of death, for all of us dislike death?” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “It is not so, but rather it is that when the believer is given news of Allah’s mercy, His approval and His Paradise, he likes to meet Allah and Allah likes to meet him; but when the unbeliever is given news of Allah’s punishment and His displeasure, he dislikes to meet Allah and Allah dislikes to meet him.”

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says:

‘My faithful servant’s reward from Me, if I have taken to Me his best friend from amongst the inhabitants of the world and he has then borne it patiently for My sake, shall be nothing less than Paradise.’”

On the authority of Jundub ibn Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“There was amongst those before you a man who had a wound. He was in [such] anguish that he took a knife and made with it a cut in his hand, and the blood did not cease to flow till he died. Allah the Almighty said: ‘My servant has himself forestalled Me; I have forbidden him Paradise.’”

We asked Abdullah (i.e. Ibn Masud) about this verse: “And do not regard those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead, rather are they alive with their Lord, being provided for (Qur’an Chapter 3 Verse 169).” He said: “We asked about that and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘Their souls are in the insides of green birds having lanterns suspended from the Throne, roaming freely in Paradise where they please, then taking shelter in those lanterns. So their Lord cast a glance at them (1) and said: ‘Do you wish for anything?’ They said: ‘What shall we wish for when we roam freely in Paradise where we please?’ And thus did He do to them three times. When they say that they would not be spared from being asked [again], they said: ‘O Lord, we would like for You to put back our souls into our bodies so that we might fight for Your sake once again. And when He saw that they were not in need of anything they were let be.’”

On the authority of Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said:

‘Truly of those devoted to Me the one I most favour is a believer who is of meager means and much given to prayer, who has been particular in the worship of his Lord and has obeyed Him inwardly (1), who was obscure among people and not pointed out, and whose sustenance was just sufficient to provide for him yet he bore this patiently.’” Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) rapped his hand and said: “Death will have come early to him, his mourners will have been few, his estate scant.”

(1) i.e. he has not been ostentatious in his obedience.

[At-Tirmidhi (also by Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Ibn Majah). Its chain of authorities is sound.]

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said:

Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him.”

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“If Allah has loved a servant [of His], He calls Gabriel (on whom be peace) and says: ‘I love So-and-so, therefore love him.’” He (the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “So Gabriel loves him. Then he (Gabriel) calls out in heaven, saying: ‘Allah loves So-and-so, therefore love him.’ And the inhabitants of heaven love him.” He (the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Then acceptance is established for him on earth. And if Allah has abhorred a servant [of His], He calls Gabriel and says: ‘I abhor So-and-so, therefore abhor him.’ So Gabriel abhors him. Then Gabriel calls out to the inhabitants of heaven: ‘Allah abhors So-and-so, therefore abhor him.’” He (the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “So they abhor him, and abhorrence is established for him on earth.”

On the authority of Abu Sa’id (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Let not any one of you belittle himself.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, how can any one of us belittle himself?” He said: “He finds a matter concerning Allah about which he should say something, and he does not say [it], so Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says to him on the Day of Resurrection: ‘What prevented you from saying something about such-and-such and such-and-such?’ He will say: ‘It was] out of fear of people.’ Then He says: ‘Rather it is I whom you should more properly fear.’”

On the authority of Abu Sa’id (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Let not any one of you belittle himself.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, how can any one of us belittle himself?” He said: “He finds a matter concerning Allah about which he should say something, and he does not say [it], so Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says to him on the Day of Resurrection: ‘What prevented you from saying something about such-and-such and such-and-such?’ He will say: ‘It was] out of fear of people.’ Then He says: ‘Rather it is I whom you should more properly fear.’”

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Allah the Almighty said:

‘There are three (1) whose adversary I shall be on the Day of Resurrection: a man who has given his word by Me and has broken it; a man who has sold a free man (2) and has consumed the price; and a man who has hired a workman, has exacted his due in full from him and has not given him his wage.’”

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“The gates of Paradise will be opened on Mondays and on Thursdays, and every servant [of Allah] who associates nothing with Allah will be forgiven, except for the man who has a grudge against his brother. [About them] it will be said: ‘Delay these two until they are reconciled; delay these two until they are reconciled.’”

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Allah (mighty and sublime be He) will say on the Day of Resurrection:

‘O son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not.’ He will say: ‘O Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds?’ He will say: ‘Did you not know that My servant So-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not? Did you not know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not.’ He will say: ‘O Lord, and how should I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds?’ He will say: ‘Did you not know that My servant So-and-so asked you for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had you fed him you would surely have found that (the reward for doing so) with Me? O son of Adam, I asked you to give Me to drink and you gave Me not to drink.’ He will say: ‘O Lord, how should I give You to drink when You are the Lord of the worlds?’ He will say: ‘My servant So-and-so asked you to give him to drink and you gave him not to drink. Had you given him to drink you would have surely found that with Me.’”

On the authority of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is that among the sayings he relates from his Lord (may He be glorified) is that He said:

“‘O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another. O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and you will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle decreases the sea if put into it. O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good praise Allah and let him who finds other than that blame no one but himself.’”

On the authority of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), among the sayings he related from his Lord (glorified and exalted be He) is that He said:

“Allah has written down the good deeds and the bad ones.” Then He explained it [by saying that] “he who has intended a good deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as from ten good deeds to seven hundred times, or many times over. But if he has intended a bad deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed.”

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“Allah the Almighty said:

‘I am as My servant thinks I am (1). I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a fathom’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.”

(1) Another possible rendering of the Arabic is: ‘I am as My servant expects Me to be.’ The meaning is that forgiveness and acceptance of repentance by the Almighty is subject to His servant truly believing that He is forgiving and merciful. However, not to accompany such belief with right action would be to mock the Almighty.

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said:

“Allah (glorified and exalted be He) has supernumerary angels who rove about seeking out gatherings in which Allah’s name is being invoked: they sit with them and fold their wings round each other, filling in that which is between them and between the lowest heaven. When [the people in the gathering] depart, [the angels] ascend and rise up to heaven.” He (the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Then Allah (mighty and sublime be He) asks them – [though] He is most knowing about them: ‘From where have you come?’ And they say: ‘We have come from some servants of Yours on Earth: they were glorifying You (Subhana llah), exalting you (Allahu akbar), witnessing that there is no god but You (La ilaha illa llah), praising You (Al-Hamdu lillah), and asking [favours] of You.’ He says: ‘And what do they ask of Me?’ They say: ‘They ask of You Your Paradise.’ He says: ‘And have they seen My Paradise?’ They say: ‘No, O Lord.’ He says: ‘And how would it be were they to have seen My Paradise!’ They say: ‘And they ask protection of You.’ He says: ‘From what do they ask protection of Me?’ They say: ‘From Your Hell-fire, O Lord.’ He says: ‘And have they seen My Hell-fire?’ They say: ‘No.’ He says: ‘And how would it be were they to have seen My Hell-fire!’ They say: ‘And they ask for Your forgiveness.’” He (the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Then He says: ‘I have forgiven them and I have bestowed upon them what they have asked for, and I have granted them sanctuary from that from which they asked protection.’” He (the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “They say: ‘O Lord, among then is So-and-so, a much sinning servant, who was merely passing by and sat down with them.’” He (the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “And He says: ‘And to him [too] I have given forgiveness: he who sits with such people shall not suffer.’”

On the authority of Adiyy ibn Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

I was with the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and there came to him two men: one of them was complaining of penury (being very poor), while the other was complaining of brigandry (robbery). The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “As for brigandry, it will be but a short time before a caravan will [be able to] go out of Mecca without a guard. As for penury, the Hour (Day of Judgement) will not arrive before one of you takes his charity around without finding anyone to accept it from him. Then (1) one of you will surely stand before Allah, there being no screen between Him and him, nor an interpreter to translate for him. Then He will say to him:Did I not bring you wealth? And he will say: Yes. Then He will say: Did I not send to you a messenger? And he will say: Yes. And he will look to his right and will see nothing but Hell-fire, then he will look to his left and will see nothing but Hell-fire, so let each of you protect himself against Hell-fire, be it with even half a date – and if he finds it not, then with a kind word.”

On the authority of Abu Mas’ud al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:

“A man from among those who were before you was called to account. Nothing in the way of good was found for him except that he used to have dealings with people and, being well-to-do, he would order his servants to let off the man in straitened circumstances [from repaying his debt].” He (the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that Allah said: “We are worthier than you of that (of being so generous). Let him off.”

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said:

“Allah (mighty and sublime be He) says:

‘Fasting is Mine and it is I Who give reward for it. [A man] gives up his sexual passion, his food and his drink for My sake.’ Fasting is like a shield, and he who fasts has two joys: a joy when he breaks his fast and a joy when he meets his Lord. The change in the breath of the mouth of him who fasts is better in Allah’s estimation than the smell of musk.”